Just a Crush
by zephyra1
Summary: Hermione visits Ron for the summer. What will happen? Please review. Chapter 2 now up!
1. Arrival at the Burrow

Hermione stretched as she moved across her bedroom to her desk. As she sat down, she glanced around for a quill and ink, finally finding both in the top drawer. The parchment was already laid out, waiting.   
  
Harry-  
I hope you're having a good holiday. Is Dudley being hard on you again? I hope not. I assume you plan to visit Ron again this summer, and if you do, I wonder if you wouldn't mind letting me know when you're arriving so I can arrive about the same time. Please let me know soon so I can plan for it.  
Love from  
Hermione  
  
Hermione reread the letter she had just written and, with a nod of satisfaction, turned to tie the parchment to Hermes' leg. Hermes had arrived just moments before with Ron's letter asking Hermione to stay for the rest of the summer.  
"Wait a minute, Hermes. I have another letter to finish." She quickly scrawled onto a new sheet of parchment:  
  
Ron-  
I'll arrive when Harry does. Let me know.  
Hermione  
  
Then, tying that letter to Hermes' other leg, she said  
"Deliver Harry's first, please." Hermes gave an affirmative hoot and took off through the window.  
  
  
  
Harry gazed through his bedroom window and wondered what his friends were doing. He imagined Ron, trying to ward off his twin brothers, no doubt testing their latest wizarding gags. He pictured Hermione studying her notes from last term and anxiously awaiting the day she gets her new books. Harry felt his stomach lurch as he though of his two best friends. He was hoping for an invitation from Ron to stay for a while.   
All of a sudden, Harry had to jump back to let Hermes, Ron's brother's owl, through the window, immediately followed by Errol, the Weasley family owl. The two owls dropped their burdens on Harry's bed and landed outside Hedwig's cage. The first letter was from Ron.  
  
Harry-  
How's your summer been? Everything's good here. Mum says you can come stay for the rest of the summer. We'll pick you up Friday morning about 9 o'clock. See you then.  
Ron  
After reading both letters (the second was from Hermione), he replied to both and sent Hedwig to Hermione and he tied another letter to Hermes for Ron, since he know Errol would need a few days to recover from his long journey. Errol was very old and was not up to return trips right away.  
  
Maybe this vacation won't be so bad after all, Harry thought to himself.  
  
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Ron sped down the stairs as fast as he could without falling. He absolutely had to get the owl post before anyone else. Ron didn't like people to read his letters because his brothers, Fred and George, always teased him. He was relieved to see that he was the first to notice Hermes and Hedwig fluttering outside the kitchen window. Ron quickly opened the window and both owls flew in and used their beaks to untie the letters and leave them on the table. Hermes continued on to Percy's room, while Hedwig waited for Ron to get her a little water. Ron slipped a small bowl onto the counter and reached for the pitcher to fill it. He read his letters to find that both of his friends would be arriving at the same time. Then, realizing that Friday was in just a couple of days, he rushed to his room to begin cleaning. He didn't know exactly why he insisted on cleaning this year. He had never felt especially inclined to clean before, but since his friends were coming over, he wanted his room to look its best. He worked for hours, with frequent interruptions from his brothers Fred and George ("Wow. Looks like you grew some carpet in here") and his little sister, Ginny, who wanted to know if Hermione would be staying in her room again this summer. When Ron finished his room, he began working on the rest of the house. He even swept the chimney. Mrs. Weasley was glad to have Ron helping so much, but she was a little confused by his sudden interest in the state of the living room ("Really, Ron, I'm impressed, but what happened?"). Fred and George tried to send him to bed and even took his temperature, talking about Brain Fever the whole time and joking about Ron's turning into his mother.  
  
Friday morning, Ron got up before dawn and began to get ready. He worked with his hair for nearly half an hour before fixing it the usual way. He put on his best outfit and went down to breakfast.  
"-And he's been up since dawn, hiding in the bathroom." Fred's voice floated up to Ron in the stairway.  
"Shhhh"  
"Morning, dear. Hungry?" Mrs. Weasley seemed to answer her own question as she pushed a plate of bacon toward him "Your father plans to pick up your friends in a few minutes. After you've had your breakfast." Ron quickly devoured his breakfast with Fred and George watching him in astonishment and Ginny eyeing him suspiciously.  
"Well, Son, lets go pick up your friends so I can get to the office." Mr. Weasley reached into the flowerpot and tossed some floo powder into the fire. "Let's go together to save on powder. We're nearly out." They stepped into the fire, flower pot in-hand, and said "Privet Drive."  
  
Harry leapt back as Mr. Weasley and Ron tumbled out of the Dursleys' fireplace. Remembering last summer, the Dursleys had removed the electric fire.   
"All packed, Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked in a friendly tone.  
"Sure. Ron, would you mind helping me?"  
The two of them carried Harry's things downstairs and the three of them used floo powder to return to the Burrow and carried Harry's trunk upstairs.  
"Wow, Ron. What happened to your room? It's so clean!" Harry stared around in amazement. Then he noticed the way Ron was dressed. "You expecting the Queen or something? What with your clothes?"  
"Nothing. Just felt like wearing something nice." Ron's ears began to glow scarlet. "We still have to get Hermione. You can stay her if you like."  
"No. I'll come along. I'm never seen Hermione's house." Harry had always been the last to arrive at the Burrow before.  
  
Hermione sat on the sofa of her living room, waiting. She had been up for a long while. She tried to look her best without being too obvious, but she was really hoping it would be clear to everyone that she was dressed up. She couldn't explain it, but she had been thinking about this visit all summer. Suddenly, Mr. Weasley, Ron, and Harry tumbled out of her fireplace and began to look around.   
"Hello, Hermione. Ready to go?" Mr. Weasley smiled at Hermione as if he's just figured something out.  
"Um, yeah. My trunk is by the fireplace."  
Hermione was watching Ron with great interest, while Harry studied Hermione's living room.  
"Well, let's get moving. I have to get into the office."  
"Sure, dad."  
Mr. Weasley went to first with Hermione's trunk, Harry went next, and Ron and Hermione went last with Crookshanks, Hermione's cat. As they spun in circles, Hermione thought how much less horrible this was with Ron next to her.  
  
They fell out onto the floor at the burrow. Crookshanks hissed and ran up the stairs.   
"Well, let's take your stuff upstairs. You'll be staying with Ginny again." Hermione was dusting herself off and could hardly believe she hadn't thought about soot when she picked out her clothes. Harry was eyeing Ron and Hermione closely, trying to see if anything interesting was about to happen. Following the two of them with the trunk, Harry listened to the two of them talk nervously as they climbed the stairs. There were plenty of awkward silences and nervous giggles. Harry was forgotten until they reached Ginny's room.  
After dinner, Harry and Ron were invited to play Quidditch with Fred and George, but Ron refused. He said he didn't feel like flying and he wanted to stay at the burrow. Fred glanced at George and both of them began to giggle.  
"What's the matter, you'll miss your girlfriend?" Ron was so embarrassed, he cursed George and ran up to his room. Harry followed Ron and tried to talk to him, but Ron was pretending to be asleep. 


	2. The Talk

The next morning, Ron was awkward. He hardly touched his breakfast and he turned different shades of purple whenever Hermione so much as looked his way. Harry was uncomfortable with the whole thing. He wasn't sure what to do. His two best friends were embarrassed by each other's presence. Fred and George were no help. They sniggered and grinned at everything that was said. Hermione finally left the table.  
  
"Hey, Ron, you better go see what's wrong with your girlfriend!" Fred and George just didn't seem to get it.  
  
"Shut up! Hermione's not my girlfriend! She's just my friend. And Harry's friend. What makes you think I even like her like that?" Ron was red in the ears and it was obvious he was humiliated. He kept looking over his shoulder to see if Hermione was listening.  
  
"Just everything. Getting dressed up, cleaning your room. I thought for sure you were going to ask her to marry you." George was resisting the urge to laugh out loud.  
  
"Besides, I think she likes you back. She got dressed up too, in case you didn't notice. And she seems to be acting different towards you."  
  
Ron relaxed a bit as his expression changed. "You think? You think she might like me? I mean, what do I care?"  
Harry could tell Ron was really working hard to keep cool.  
  
"Ron, why don't you go upstairs and talk to Hermione. I bet she wants to clear the air a bit."  
  
"No, Harry. I can't. She's really upset. And anyway, I'm a little embarrassed to talk to her about this." Ron looked desperate. Like a man at the end of his rope.  
  
"Ok, I'll go talk to her, but you have to be right outside the door for moral support."  
  
Ron and Harry made their way upstairs to see Hermione. Ron was wringing his hands and Harry noticed he was chewing his cheek. Harry knocked on Ginny's door.  
  
"Hermione? Are you in there?" There was no response. "Hello?" Harry decided to try the door. It opened and he looked around. Hermione was sitting on the end of Ginny's bed.  
"Are you okay? You left the table in a hurry."  
  
"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just not as hungry as I thought I was. Fred and George are just too much sometimes. And Ron was just sitting there taking it." Hermione was obviously hurt.  
  
"Well, you know he was embarrassed by the whole thing. His ears looked like they were on fire." Harry decided it was time to stop talking. After all, Ron was right outside the door.  
  
"He should have said something."  
  
"He did right after you left. Maybe he just didn't want to make a scene in front of you."  
  
"Maybe." Hermione looked lost in thought. "Harry, can you keep a secret?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so." Harry was beginning to worry. Ron was right outside. What if this was about him? "What's it about?"  
  
"It's about Ron." Uh-oh. "I think I have a crush on him but I'm not sure. I've never really had one before so I'm not sure what it feels like. I know you had one on Cho so I thought I'd ask you."  
  
"Well, it's kinda like you enjoy their company and you always want to be around that person, but when you are, you lose ability to speak and think normally. You're so overwhelmed with thoughts and feelings that you forget to act like a human being."  
  
"Yeah. That's what I was afraid of. Please keep this to yourself." Hermione turned to face the other way.   
  
"Sure. No problem. Hey, I'll see you later on. I'm going back downstairs."  
  
"I'll come with you."  
  
"NO! I mean. Just wait here for a second. You need your rest. You had a long day yesterday and you got up real early this morning."  
  
"Right, Harry, you thought I didn't know Ron was behind the door the whole time." She gave him a knowing wink and left the room. 


	3. Another Talk

Harry blinked. He couldn't understand how Hermione could be so cool about this. Ron entered the room after Hermione's graceful exit and sat next to Harry, his jaw on the floor. "What was that?" asked Ron. "I dunno. Maybe she's turned nutty. What are you going to do?" "I don't know what I should do. I mean, she just told you she likes me and she knew I was there. Does she want me to confront her? Was it a joke?" "I think you'd do better to let me handle it. You're going green."  
  
Harry went downstairs to talk to Hermione, but when he got there, she was upset. "Harry, what's going on here?" "What do you mean?" "Well, when I passed by Ron in the hall, he had a strange look on his face. He doesn't like me at all, does he?" "Of course he does. He's just nervous. You should talk to him." "Well, maybe you're right. It's just that I don't know too much about this sort of thing and you made it so painfully obvious that Ron was behind the door. I felt like I was being surrounded. So I spilled my guts. But then I regretted it because I was exposed. And then Ron..." "So it didn't go exactly like you planned. You took the first step. That's really something to be proud of. I never could have come out and said something like that if it were me." "Thanks, Harry. You're the best." "Go talk to him before his face explodes." 


	4. Last talk, I promise

"Ron?" "Yeah?" "Can we talk?" "Sure." Hermione came into the room and sat at the end of Ron's bed. She sat nervously and rubbed her knuckles with her thumb. Ron looked at his feet. "Are you mad at me?"  
  
"No. Why would you think that?" Ron turned scarlet and stared hard at his shoes. "When I left earlier, you had a funny look on your face."  
  
"Well, that's because..." Ron trailed off. "Because what?" "Well, see, I..." "Yeah..." "I was shocked because you told Harry you like me. Were you telling the truth?" Now Ron was looking at Hermione with a terrified gleam in his eye.  
  
"Yes." "So..." They sat there for what seemed like hours. Hermione stared at the walls and the floor while Ron went back to studying his shoes. "Hermione?" "Yeah." "C-C-Can I ask you something?" "Sure." "Can I kiss you?" 


	5. The Kiss

Ron never got an answer. Hermione turned and kissed him with all the energy she had built up over the last 24 hours. Ron's legs turned to spaghetti. His arms went numb and his face was hot. He was sure his head was about to float away. "Ron, are you okay?" Hermione was looking at him with some concern. "Yeah. How about you?" "I'm great. You know, everything's different now." "Yeah. I know. How do you think Harry's going to feel about this?" "He'll be fine. I saw his holding hands with Ginny downstairs earlier." "You WHAT?" 


End file.
